John Fogarty: Stephen Cluxton never lost his love for the contest

When he has so often acted on principle and his “appreciation for the contest”, it is not beyond the realms of possibility to suggest Cluxton has exited stage left on a point of principle

After kicking the most famous free in All-Ireland final history in 2011, Stephen Cluxton booted away the prized match ball handed to him by Tomás Ó Sé on his way to retiring to the dressing room. Picture: Dáire Brennan / SPORTSFILE

There was a time when possessing a player’s mobile number was more than halfway towards securing an interview.

Long before paranoid managers and GDPR took over the world, county boards were only too happy to furnish such details.